Amelia's frost-forged combat aura clashed against Yuri's glacial magic, their duel orbiting the azure water-element petal. The sixth-rank mage moved with eel-like evasion, ice shield shimmering as he channeled a high-tier spell.
"Frostwyrm Ascendant!" Yuri's staff—crowned by a pulsating cryostone—unleashed a serpentine monstrosity of living ice. Its wingspan blotted sunlight, crystalline scales refracting lethal cold. The battlefield plunged into subzero hell, breath crystallizing mid-air as Amelia's armor crackled with rime.
Kael intervened without hesitation. "Meteor Shower!"
The collision of fire and ice birthed apocalyptic theater. Yuri's Frostwyrm met Kael's flaming barrage in midair, primal forces warping reality itself. Steam explosions shredded the frozen domain, scalding fog intercut with diamond-hard ice shrapnel. Combatants stumbled as thermal shockwaves disrupted mana flows, their defenses fraying under elemental chaos.
When the maelstrom cleared, both spells had annihilated each other. The Frostwyrm lay in shattered stalagmites; Kael's meteors smoldered as lifeless rock. Yuri's glacial composure fractured—a twitch in his jaw betrayed outrage at this upstart rival. Amelia seized the momentary imbalance, her blade carving a path toward the drifting azure petal.
Observers gaped. Sixth-circle spells weren't mere fireworks—they were strategic commitments requiring minutes of preparation. Yet here stood Kael, freshly ascended, matching blow for blow against Yuri's honed mastery. Sebastian abandoned his earth petal pursuit, reassessing threat hierarchies. Even Daniel's smirk faded as he recalculated odds.
The Frostspire's core pulsed mockingly above the carnage, its glacial song now threaded with dissonance. Petals were but appetizers; the true feast awaited boldness none yet dared claim.
Amelia's fingers grazed the water petal—
—Yuri's ice clone materialized in her blind spot, dagger fangs aimed at her spine. Survival instincts prevailed; she pivoted into a bone-jarring parry, sacrificing proximity to the prize.
Kael's staff flared anew. This dance had only begun.
The cataclysmic clash left Kael and Yuri staggering apart, their mutual glare acknowledging grudging respect. Though separated by two minor ranks, Kael's raw output had matched Yuri's refined sixth-circle prowess—an unsettling revelation for the frost mage.
Amelia seized the momentary stalemate. Darting with pantherine grace, she snatched the azure water petal midair and swallowed it whole before Yuri's ice shard retaliation could manifest. The frost mae's eyes glaciated further, his hatred crystallizing into palpable malice.
Daniel and Sebastian's earthen duel reached its crescendo. Despite Sebastian's sixth-rank advantage, Daniel's unorthodox footwork and stonewall defenses turned the rocky terrain into an ally. A feigned retreat lured Sebastian into overcommitting—Daniel pivoted, seizing the ochre earth petal with bleeding knuckles before gulping it down.
Kael and Amelia turned their synchronized assault toward the remaining light and darkness petals. Yuri, thwarted in water's pursuit, redirected toward the jade wind fragment. His glacial aura repelled Chloe's belated lunge, her chest heaving with thwarted ambition as the wind petal vanished into Yuri's frost-rimed palm.
The light petal dissolved on Kael's tongue—molten gold tempered to liquid sunlight. Unlike fire's ferocity, this energy mended his meridians, erasing the instability of his recent ascension. Beside him, Amelia shuddered as the darkness petal's void essence merged with her frost aura, her silhouette briefly flickering from perception.
Daniel staggered from Sebastian's parting blow, bloodied but triumphant. The earth petal's resonance already thickened his combat aura, rocky protrusions rising instinctively to shield his flanks.
Silence descended—not peace, but the eye of a hurricane. Six elemental petals now merged with their claimants, their energies stabilizing into latent power. All eyes lifted toward the Frostspire's core, its glacial spire now radiating prismatic auroras. The petals had been mere preliminaries; the artifact's true trial loomed.
Yuri's frost-encrusted fingers twitched toward his staff. Sebastian's mercenaries reformed ranks. Chloe's daggers gleamed with renewed purpose. Daniel spat blood, grinning through split lips.
Kael tightened his grip on the Inferno Staff, its fire-gems dimmed but pulsing in sync with his dual-imbued core. Amelia's blade traced arcane sigils in the ash-strewn air, frost and shadow intertwining.
The Frostspire's song shifted—a single crystalline note resonating in every combatant's bones. Final ascension demanded sacrifice.
Kael narrowed his eyes—this Daniel truly was an extraordinary figure.
As the struggle for the six elemental petals reached its conclusion, a nearly imperceptible vibration rippled through the air. The gazes of Kael and his five companions snapped toward the Millennium Ice Core simultaneously.
The ancient crystal finally began its ultimate transformation, completing the centuries-long process of materialization. Its glacial surface shimmered with perfected clarity, radiating waves of primal elemental energy that crystallized the surrounding atmosphere into delicate frost patterns.